Vegetable-strainer.



J. MoDO D.

VEGETABLE INER.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 9.

944, 1 44. Patented Dec. 21, 1909. I 2 EEEEEEEEEEEE 1.

. 'mmnioz I (/0621 772 ."@0/2QM J. McDONALD.

VEGETABLE STRAINER.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 16, 1909.

94:4, 1 44. Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

2 $HEETS-SHEET 2.

avmzwfoz Wituaooeo JOHN McDONALD, OF NORTH SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA.

VEGETABLE-STRAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

Application filed July 16, 1909. Serial No. 507,985.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN MCDONALD, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at North Sydney, in the Province of Nova Scotia, CapeBreton, and Dominion of Canada, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Vegetable-Strainers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to vegetable strainers, and one of the principalobjects of the same is to provide an open-work wire basket designed tofit within a cooking utensil for containing vegetables, moreparticularly p0- tatoes, turnips or vegetables of this kind, means beingprovided whereby the wire basket containing the vegetables may besuspended above the water in the cooking utensil after they have beenproperly cooked in order that they may be dry and mealy when ready toserve.

Another object of the invention is to provide an open-work wire basketadapted to fit various sizes of kettles or cooking utensils, said wirebasket being provided with means for supporting it above the water inthe cooking utensil so that the vegetables may be properly drained andalso for the purose of holding the basket in position to orce thevegetables through the bottom thereof in order to slice or mash thevegetables after the water has been poured out of the cooking utensil.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whioh,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a cooking utensil containing a strainer madein accordance with my invention, the cover of the cooking utensil beingbroken away to illustrate a portion of the strainer. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view of the cooking utensil with the strainerdisposed inside the same in position for use. Fig. 3 is an elevation andpartial section of the cooking utensil, showing the wire strainersupported above the water in the cooking utensil in order that thepotatoes shown in the strainer may be drained.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a kettle or othercooking utensil designed to contain a quantity of water 2. As shown, thecooking utensil is provided with a bottom portion 3 of reduced sizedesigned to fit in the stove hole. However, this feature may be omitted,and an ordinary plain-bottom utensil utilized for my purpose.

The strainer is designed to fit within the kettle 1, and it consists ofthe ordinary wire strands 1 connected by a ring 5 at the top and a ring6 at a point near the bottom, said strands 4 being provided with theinwardly bent portions 7, the downwardly bent portions 8 and theinwardly bent members 9 which are preferably united to a ring 10 in thecenter. The construction of the wire basket or strainer may be variedsomewhat without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.Resilient supporting strands 11 provided with projecting supports 12 aredisconnected at their upper ends from the ring 5 and provided withsuitable handles 13. The wire strands from which the members 11 areformed are provided with downwardly curved portions 14 to engage thewire ring 5 and to permit the handles to be raised and pushed inwardlyto disconnect the supports 12 from the upper edge of the kettle 1whenever it is desired to place the strainer within the kettle.

The operation of my invention may be briefly described as follows :Thepotatoes or other vegetables are placed in the strainer, and thestrainer is lowered into the kettle 1 to the bottom thereof within thewater. After the vegetables have been properly cooked the strainer maybe raised and supported upon the upper edge of the kettle 1 by thesupports 12, thus suspending the vegetables above the water to permitthem to drain and to permit the steam to escape from the vegetables. Ifit should be desired to mash the potatoes or to slice them thewater 2 ispoured out of the utensil 1, and the potatoes or other vegetables areforced through the bottom strands of the strainer into the receptacle 1,where they are kept hot until ready. for use. A cover 15 fits the kettle1 during the cooking operation.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that a strainer made in accordancewith my invention may be of any required size to fit any desired kettleor cooking utensil, can be quickly raised out of the water and supportedabove the same for draining, and that the vegetables may be mashed orsliced by being forced through the bottom into the kettle to keep themwarm until. ready for serving.

I claim The herein described vegetable strainer comprising a series ofWire strands connected at their lower ends to a ring, a ring to Whichthe upper ends of said strands are connected, supporting memberscomprising resilient Wire strands connected to the lower ring anddisconnected from the upper ring, said supporting members being providedWith handles for operating the same andsaid supporting members havingoutwardly projecting supports designed to engage the upper edge of thekettle or cooking utensil.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

JOHN MODONALD Witnesses:

WVILLIAM E. SOMERS, ANNIE M. SoMERs.

